Octopath Traveler Basics: Boost Points

The combat in Octopath Traveler is focused around Boost Points. But what do Boost Points do? Well to put it simply, they allow your character to boost an Attack, Defend or Skill up to x4 in a single round.

The basic rule of Boost Points in Octopath Traveler is that you accumulate one Boost Point per turn. However, you only earn this Boost Point when you don’t boost in the previous turn. The Boost Points are signified by the dots in the top-right corner of the combat screen.

To use these Boost Points, Just press the R button to add a Point, and L to subtract a Point. Boost Points are used to to unleash powerful attacks, defend against devastating blows or boost an entire range of skills for the one turn.

(You will always begin every new encounter with one Boost Point, so make sure you take a note of that)

More often than not, the aim is to use a x3 or x4 boost attack on strong opponents. However to do maximum damage, you will need to take down their shield. The number of attacks in order to Break their defence is indicated by the number in the shield next to their vulnerable icons.

(the reason why the enemy on the left doesn’t have a number next to him is because the shield has already been broken and is wide open to an attack – note the stars around his head)

So once you’ve broken your opponent’s defense, this leaves them open to your remaining attacks in that turn and your attacks on the next turn. Many boss battles are centred around this mechanic and will require you to strategize and think ahead, so make sure you’ve got this imprinted on your brain.

You can store up to five boost points at once, however you only need to use three in order to execute your strongest x4 Attack, Defend or Skill. This allows you to save up some Boost Points for another attack, or to defend against an oncoming attack later on.

When using Boost Points to strengthen your stat-boosting skills, the bonuses will be able to last longer. For example: Orberic’s Abide skill increases his physical attack strength for three turns, but at x2 it goes up to five turns, x3 to seven, and x4 to nine.

It needs to be stressed that you can only whittle down your opponent’s shield if you attack them with the correct weapon. In order to do this, you’ll need to uncover which weapon they are vulnerable to by attacking them with a variety of moves until one sticks.

Strategy: Uncover new foes’ weaknesses by attacking them with various weapons. Throughout the process to uncover their weaknesses, you would have built up some Boost Points to take them down with.

Once you have got your opponent’s Shield Points down to zero, you will initiate a Break which stuns the opponent. This essentially cuts out their next attack and leaves them open and vulnerable to your strongest attacks.

After that turn, the enemy’s shield number will restore to max, so make sure that you have enough Boost Points in order to not waste the opportunity. This allows you to strategize and plan your attacks accordingly as it’ll become increasingly complicated as you progress through the game (especially in Boss fights).

Strategy: Build up your Boost Points to max and keep attacking them with single attacks until they have only one Shield Point left. Then, do a x4 Boost attack to get Break as well as three follow up attacks, and then do a x3 Boost attack on the next turn. This will guarantee the most possible damage from your Boost Points, which is especially effective on strong enemies and during boss fights.

Using Boost Points to strengthen your Warrior Skills is a fine way to deal a devastating amount of damage, but beware that most offensive skills will only deplete your enemy’s defence by one Point (unless the skill specifies otherwise).

You can also earn Break bonuses when defeating enemies when you have performed a break on them. Therefore if you defeat the enemy and they still have some Shield Points left, you don’t get the bonus. This gives you a slight EXP bonus, which is always helpful in 80-100 hour JRPGs.

We hope that this little tutorial allows you to better understand the basics of combat in Octopath Traveler. If you still have any questions, please let us know in the Comment section below and we’ll do our best to answer them.